Former ice user jailed for at least four years over hit run that permanently injured Ballarat cyclist

A Ballarat woman who was on her way to pick up drugs when she ran over a popular cyclist has been jailed for at least four years.

Rebekah Stewart, 24, pleaded guilty to mowing down Christian Ashby, 37, in the early hours of Good Friday last year while on her way to buy drugs on Wendouree Parade in Ballarat.

Her car veered onto the wrong side of the road and ploughed head-on into Mr Ashby as he cycled around Lake Wendouree. She admitted to taking ice that morning, and was also driving an unregistered vehicle at the time.

Stewart was caught on CCTV speeding off from the scene, before entering an industrial estate with her headlights turned off shortly after the crash.

She hid the car at an associate’s address in Delacombe and covered it with tarpaulin, telling friends she had hit a kangaroo.

The father of two suffered multiple compound leg fractures, punctured lungs, nine broken ribs, a ruptured kidney, and broken vertebrae among various other injuries in the March 2016 incident.

He earlier told the court in a victim impact statement his life had been forever changed by the “soul-destroying” collision.